Ashes: Alastair Cook hopes to keep England captaincy after Test loss

By
Michael Carayannis

Under-siege English captain Alastair Cook still found enough energy to offer a smile - even if it was a wry one - as he stood firm in his conviction that he wanted to retain the captaincy.

Under-siege English captain Alastair Cook still found enough energy to offer a smile - even if it was a wry one - as he stood firm in his conviction that he wanted to retain the captaincy.

Cook and coach Andy Flower's positions will come under scrutiny following England's disastrous tour of Australia, where they forfeited the Ashes without causing a dent in a ruthless Australian side. Both received backing from the English cricket board on Tuesday.

Bizarrely, Cook read his show of support on an iPhone app just hours before play, in what would be the last day of the Test.

He said he had yet to speak to anyone from the board but had no intention of relinquishing the captaincy.

''I've been given the vote of confidence [by] the board but in football terms that usually means in two weeks you're on your bike,'' Cook said. ''I definitely want to try and turn it around. I feel as though I am the right man to turn it around. In the dressing room, I feel as though I am the right man to do it. I have a lot of experience as a player. Andy is a fantastic coach and a great man. His heart is in it to turn it around, I think. I hope it's me and him.''

During the fifth Test capitulation, Cook became the first English captain to lose a Test within three days after sending a team in to bat, having won his first toss of the series.

Cook pointed to the 2006-07 Ashes series - where England lost by a clean sweep - as a source of inspiration for his men. The 29-year-old played in all five matches of that series before England bounced back to reclaim the Ashes urn in the next match-up.

''I've seen a 5-0 before and I've seen the drive and determination which that caused to a certain number of players,'' Cook said. ''I know what that takes to do. When you strip everything down, every single player needs to go back and look at themselves … and start rebuilding.''

The 3-0 Ashes series win last year seems like a distant memory for an England side who have dealt with Graham Swann's retirement and Jonathan Trott's early tour exit, while uncertainty surrounds Kevin Pietersen's future. Cook described rookie Ben Stokes as a shining light of the tour.